National Association of Counties

Founded in 1935, the National Association of Counties (NACo) is the only national organization in the country that represents county governments. With headquarters on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., NACo's primary mission is to ensure that the county government message is heard and understood in the White House and in the halls of Congress.

Improve public understanding of counties;

Act as a national advocate for counties; and

Help counties find innovative methods for meeting the challenges they face.

This survey was a joint effort by NACo's Research Division/ County Services
Department and the Legislative Affairs Department.

The National Association of Counties recently conducted a snapshot survey titled "How has the Deployment of Reserves Affected Your County?" This survey was conducted in response to a request from Congress about how counties have been affected by this issue. The survey was distributed to members of the Large Urban County Steering Committee and the Rural Action Caucus by email on Thursday, June 10. As of Thursday, June 17, 164 responses have been received from 27 states representing the surveyed population ranges.

*Please note: Counties surveyed include the largest urbanized counties and the rural counties.

Effects of Deployment

Counties were asked if county employees who are members of the reserves been called up for duty. Of the 164 responding counties, 43 percent report that employees have been called up. Of these counties that have had employees called up, 76 percent have had less than five employees called to the military. Twelve percent have had between 5 to 10 employees called up and 8 percent have had more than 20.

Departmental Distribution

Counties were asked to list the departments that were most affected by the call up. Seventy four percent report that police/sheriff departments were affected. This was followed by 28 percent stating other departments and 18 percent reporting fire and emergency medical departments and public works departments were also affected. Nine percent report that transit and transportation as well as administration departments were among those affected.

Benefits for the Military

Counties were asked about the benefits their county employees received while serving on active duty in the military. Forty three percent report that benefits stopped in accordance with the time period required by federal law. However, 35 percent of the responding counties indicate that they have established policy that continues benefits to the military beyond those required by federal law. Sixteen percent of responding counties report continuing to extend benefits to the military based on state law.

Hardships Caused by Deployment

Counties are coping with missing employees in several ways. Fifty nine percent are reallocating other staff to fill the positions of missing employees, while 46 percent have hired temporary staff. More than 14 percent indicate that they have had to cut back on service delivery while these employees are deployed.

Counties are making do with 52 percent reporting that their counties have not experienced a hardship while these employees are on active duty. Examining this response by population size however, paints a different picture. Sixty nine percent of counties with populations below 10,000 report that the deployment has created a hardship for them.

Of the 48 percent of counties reporting hardships caused by the current deployment, several provided the following brief anecdotes:

We have a very tight budget and hiring temporary help has placed an additional burden on the county. We have had a large murder trial in the last month that has taxed the Sheriff's Office and they have needed all personnel.

Absence was in detention! Hard area to cover shift while holding position open.

Temporary employees are not certified as police officers so they are still under staffed.

It is difficult to recruit, hire and train Juvenile Probation Counselors when you don't know how long they'll be hired - Training is expensive and takes about 2 years.

With 1 of 7 deputies on staff, the other 6 had to take up his shifts because we couldn't find another deputy since we were paying his salary and benefits in his absence.

Our Zoning Administrator has a wealth of knowledge and experience that we have lost; especially since the deployment is so long.

Replaced with part time personnel, who does not have the level of expertise that this full time team leader employee provided to our county.

Difficult to fill jobs on a temporary basis.

The gentleman was the computer expert in the department in addition to his duties as a prosecuting attorney. We could cover the legal duties but the loss of his computer skills has been difficult.

Especially for 24/7 operations such as Sheriff Deputies, we have to pay overtime to backfill the shifts while picking up the pay difference for the employee.

Manpower shortage of small agency.

Had to hire and train another jailer.

Somewhat of a hardship in that we have saved money on insurance, but has cost more in overtime and not being as productive.